Data and storage communication networks are in widespread use. In many network devices used in data and storage communication networks, such as switches and routers, data routing tables are employed to route data packets or frames from point to point between a source and a destination via one or more networks.
Network processors often are employed to handle transmission of data into and out of network devices. Such network processors may store one or more routing tables, and employ keys and/or “signatures” to point to and/or access information within the routing tables.
A problem may arise within a network processor when an updated version of a routing table is created. Specifically, the network processor should ensure that all keys that are used to access a particular table access the most up-to-date version of the table.
Some network processors use a unique signature value to uniquely identify each routing table and/or table entry. In order to allow access to a table or table entry, a key must include a signature that matches the signature of the table or table entry. To ensure that each key generated by a network processor accesses the most up-to-date version of a table, software within the network processor may be employed to control the creation of keys and to track the current signature value that is to be associated with each key. However, despite such an approach, ensuring that each key generated by a network processor accesses the most up-to-date version of a table remains difficult.